Director: Kotono Watanabe.
Starring: Tyler Galindo, Brittney Karbowski, Andrew Love, Chelsea McCurdy.Ryota Sakamoto, Suzuko Mimori, Ken Narita, Miyuki Sawashiro
Running Time: 300 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Synopsis: Sakamoto is the highest ranking Japanese player of worldwide game Btoom! Life in the game world is great, he has friends and even a wife, in the real world he is an unemployed 22 year old. After a session of Btooom! he wakes to find himself on an island which is eerily like the game world of Btooom!, fights to the death included…
Based on a Japanese manga written by Jun’ya Inoue, BTOOOM! is a ten-part series following Sakamoto, a 22 year old gamer, as he finds himself transported to a mystery island where the rules of survival are the same as the computer game he is addicted to playing.
The plot is a mixture of GAMER, BATTLE ROYALE, THE HUNGER GAMES and Lost though it never quite achieves the cleverness of any of them.
Although a short series it takes its time getting going, with the first few episodes going round in circles. On the whole I would say that it is the character and story development that lets BTOOOM! down. We only get glimpses into the pasts of some of the characters. All have supposedly been sent to the island by someone, and though Himiko and Sakamoto’s reasons are glossed over, the other island dwellers are barely given anything.
The female character of the piece is Himiko. Unfortunately she suffers from being a stereotypical anime-fetish character. She is a young blonde schoolgirl with massive bomb-stopping lady lumps. Teenage boys will fall in lust with her looks, however there isn’t much personality there. Her PERFECT BLUE-esque background is disturbingly dark and the one we get the clearest insight into. Events in her past, combined with the male island inhabitants inability to suppress their sexual urges, mean that she spends the majority of the time hating the men around her, with no real personality development.
Sakamoto, our protagonist isn’t given much range either. In fact there are several moments where he is pretty unlikeable, one in particular involves an unconscious Himiko. He see-saws between being ‘traumatised’ by what he is expected to do and happily going into battle to the death with a perfect stranger.
The really frustrating thing about the plot is that the characters never really seem to question what is happening on the island, and why they are there. Everyone seems quite content to plod along blowing each other up with their ‘bims’ without giving much thought to the fact that they are killing another human. The story does pick up pace towards the end and could definitely be improved by a second slightly longer series which could delve into character histories better.
If you’re a big anime fan then you’ll enjoy BTOOOM! as a filler series whilst waiting for the next instalment of your favourite. The simple-to-follow plot makes it easy viewing, however those unfamiliar with the dark tones that manga and anime sometimes deal with may find themselves questioning some of the events in the show.
[usr=3] BTOOM! is released on DVD 17th March via MVM,
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